


Closeness

by Resoan



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4771187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resoan/pseuds/Resoan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Venatori are gone, the dragon is dead, and the dwarven ruins have all been excavated. Velahari, Solas, Blackwall, and Varric bond over the fire on what will be their final night there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closeness

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written on tumblr for Bricktheprettiestsiren.

“Did you really  _live_  in the Hanged Man?” Blackwall asked Varric disbelievingly from across the fire, the flickers of light casting shadows on the would-be Warden and aging him another half-decade. “Maker’s balls, how could you stand the  _smell_  for years on end?” Blackwall was grimacing by the time he finished, and Varric merely laughed - as deep and heartfelt a laugh as Velahari had heard from him in some time. After the debacle in Valammar with Bianca, Velahari had quietly worried for him, but he was resilient, and his good humor was not lost.

“You remind me of the du Launcets - Hawke and I went to their mansion when their son escaped the Circle, and they had some similar things to say about it.  _Ugh, but that place is so **filthy**.”  _ His over-the-top Orlesian accent had Velahari grinning and chuckling under her breath, and Blackwall huffed before retorting.

“Hey now! I may not be a Warden, but I’m no frilly Orlesian who shrieks at the sight of a rat running by.” Velahari could see Solas poorly veiling his smirk at her side even as Varric laughed again.

“That’s not exactly something I’d be telling Ruffles, Hero,” Varric added with a sly wink, and just as abruptly as Blackwall had huffed, he flushed a bright red and looked away. Not many in their party even knew of Blackwall’s crush on Josephine, but Varric took every opportunity to mention it in conversation - no matter how often Blackwall asked him not to. At first, Velahari thought it had been a callous attempt at getting back at the man for lying about his standing as a Grey Warden, but now, she wasn’t so sure. Varric had spoken frequently of his companions in Kirkwall, of the camaraderie he’d held with them, and somehow, Velahari thought maybe he was beginning to view some of those within the Inquisition in a similar light. Maybe it had started out malicious, but it was teasing now, and Velahari was pleased to see Blackwall laugh it off a moment later as he set his now-emptied bowl of supper at his feet in front of the fire.

The conversation began to lull then, but it was a comfortable silence; Velahari folded her hands together and slid them between her thighs for warmth - the desert was hot under the blistering sun, but at night when the winds came in, it was almost as cold as Emprise du Lion on a bad day. She lost track of how much time passed before Blackwall yawned widely and stood with a quiet mumble - even not hearing what he said exactly, Velahari knew he was about to curl into his bedroll for some shut-eye. After the day of fighting they’d had, he deserved it.

It was only a short time later when Velahari turned and caught Solas’ gaze momentarily that she heard Varric intone an  _uh_  for a few, extended seconds. “I think I’ll hit the hay. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of your… _alone_  time.” To his credit, Varric did not wink lasciviously as he disappeared into the tent he shared with Blackwall, and Velahari’s lips twisted into a subdued smile.

“I, for one, will be glad to leave this place. So very vast…I wonder how many of its secrets we have not uncovered - how many will  _never_  be uncovered underneath the shifting dunes of sand.” Velahari turned her gaze to Solas as he spoke softly, her smile widening into something soft which seemed to earn a similar expression in the crinkle of Solas’s eyes.

“Perhaps it’s for the best, then,” Velahari murmured, her words earning a tacit, inquiring gaze and expectation for her to continue. “Such a place would lose all appeal if we knew all its secrets, would it not? Though, how we would definitively  _know_  we held all its secrets in our grasp is another matter…what?” The smile on Solas’s face was not one she was accustomed to seeing: it was wide, had bared his teeth, and the glint in his eyes was nearly mischievous.

“Just when I begin to think I know your secrets,  _vhenan_ , you surprise me yet again.” His tone was silken and soft, seeming to sweeten the words which clung so easily to his silver tongue. 

“I would be so terribly dull and boring if I did not,” Velahari teased him, her tone japing and her eyes darkening with a childish mischief she had not felt since playing with Fena’dea back with her clan ages ago.

“Come. Let us find more of the Wastes’ secrets,  _vhenan_. Together.” Solas reached out his hand for Velahari to take as he stood, his smile twisting her heart in her chest as her fingertips slid across his palm and he helped her to her feet. 

“There is nowhere I’d rather be,” Velahari answered him quietly, her temple falling to his shoulder as they walked and he entwined their fingers, her arm trapped quite comfortably between his and his side.


End file.
